Employee in office tested positive for Corona

[Cherryblossom200]

Help!

I've recently started working on a new company, been here just over three weeks and I'm still in my probationary review time.

I work in an office job, have a laptop and mobile phone which was given to me so I could work from home. However my boss seems to like me/her and the team to be in the office.

We are in a small office, two in a room and total of 9 of us. Over the weekend one person has been tested positive.

He is now self isolating but the rest of us are being told to come into the office. And office where we share kitchen facilities etc with.

I have a young child (I'm a single parent) who is at school and is picked up by my parents, both high risk.

I'm incredibly angry that I'm being asked to continue working in the office where we have had a case. But I'm too new to challenge it. I feel my safety and that of my families isn't being taken into consideration.

I don't know what to do. When I mentioned if we should be working from home, the answer was very much that this is a he way it is. I don't want to lose my job and can't afford to walk away from this one.

If your child is at school then that is a massive risk to your parents anyway, I don’t think that risk increases with your colleague having CV, although as close contacts why aren’t you all being asked to isolate ? I thought that was the rule ?

Do you share the with the positive case?
Have you been within 2m of him, not wearing a mask for more than15 minutes? (I think that it the criterion Test and trace use).

Test and Trace should be contacting all his close contacts and telling them to isolate.

*share the room

I don't share a room with him, but we share a tiny office. He shares the kitchen/toilets etc so I think we all should be in self isolation

But you haven't actually had face to face contact?

Presumably you wash your hands after the toilet, and using the kitchen for food etc. Test and trace wouldn't count that as a close contact.

This is totally standard OP, you don't meet the criteria to be classed as a contact.

I think if the person names you to a contact tracer as someone he was in close contact with, you would legally have to isolate. If you haven't had close contact (which is something like closer than 2m for more than 5 mins or something) then you don't need to isolate - but anyone in your office who was in close contact should not be in. I understand your situation and why you are concerned. So long as you didn't have close contact and none of your colleagues did, it should be ok - take some Dettol wipes for the kitchen? Don't worry about the bathroom - surely this is being cleaned every day?

Thanks everyone the toilets are cleaned once a week!

I feel more reassured now x

Once a week is a bit grim even pre-Covid!

Where I work you wouldn’t be isolating, you e not been in enough direct contact though our office is strict in things like one in one out of toilets and kitchen, you wipe the fridge and hot water tap before and after use with antibacterial wipes.

Surely you should all be taking responsibility for yourselves and cleaning/wiping down communal surfaces after use?

Just to reassure you we had similar where I work. Now more than 2 weeks have passed since the infection and there were no further infections in our building. That said I would do what you can to protect yourself. Can you bring your own mug to the shared kitchen? Maybe even a flask? Are there any windows you can open?